Jacob Ockers House

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The historic house on a hilltop at 965 Montauk Avenue (Route 85) in Oakdale is called the Jacob Ockers House. The house was built sometime before 1840 and the first owner was probably Moses Benjamin. Jacob Ockers was a highly successful oysterman and began working in his father's business in 1863. Ockers purchased the house from the Benjamins in 1880. By 1903, Jacob controlled 800 acres of oyster beds and was the largest producer of oysters in the world. The "Oyster King" died in 1918 and his widow lived into the 1930s; their daughter, Louise E. continued to live in the house until 1970. The property was subdivided in the 1970s. A quarter acre lot containing the Colonial Revival style house was donated to the Town of Islip and later became a museum and office space. The Jacob Ockers House was listed in the New York and National Registers in 1992.

Images

1992 side view of Jacob Ockers House for NRHP (photo by Walter Sedovic)

Front of Jacob Ockers House in 1992 photo (Walter Sedovic)

1992 photo of rear of Jacob Ockers House, after fire in kitchen wing (Walter Sedovic)

Formal dining room on first floor of in Jacob Ockers House in 1992 photo (Walter Sedovic)

Building, Property, Door, Interior design

Stairwell on first floor in Jacob Ockers House in 1992 photo (Walter Sedovic)

Jacob Ockers House, owned by J. or P. Benjamin (red arrows) on 1858 map (Robert P. Smith)

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

The Jacob Ockers House belonged to the Benjamin family from the 1830s until 1880, when its namesake purchased it. Moses Benjamin is shown on an 1834 map at a house in this approximate location. Two neighboring Benjamin houses are shown in this location on the north side of the road on an 1858 map: J. (likely Joshua) and P. Benjamin. The Benjamin family enlarged the additional house from 1.5 to 2.5 stories in the 1860s or 1870s.

Jacob Ockers was born in the Netherlands in 1847 and moved to the U.S. in 1850. In mid-1880, Jacob was a single oyster planter and living in Oakdale as a boarder in the home of William Smith, a 70-year-old widowed farmer. Also in the home were three grown Smith children: Sarah (age 30, kept house), Louise (25, a railroad clerk), and William Jr. (23, a farm laborer). The next name on the 1880 census, and a presumed neighbor, was Joshua Benjamin. By 1881, Jacob was a homeowner with Louise E. Smith as his bride.

Jacob bought a sloop at age 16 and began transporting his father's oysters to the New York City market. At age 18 in 1865, Jacob was among the men who leased rights to harvest the bay bottom for oysters. Only one lease per person was allowed with no more than 26 acres; Jacob leased 16 acres. By 1872, Jacob realized the sloop was no longer large enough and bought a schooner. Jacob was reportedly the first to market oysters from New York to Europe. The company owned ten schooners by the early 1900s and shipped thousands of pounds of oysters to market by train every year. In 1912, Jacob's company merged with the Sealship Oyster System to form the Bluepoint Oyster Company. The local oyster industry was in decline by 1929 and was greatly hurt by a hurricane in 1938 that created a new inlet and changed the salinity of the oyster beds. The company stopped harvesting after a brown tide affected the South Shore in 1985, and went out of business in 1999.

By 1900, Jacob and Louise Ockers had one surviving child of two, a daughter, Louise (12). Jacob was a naturalized citizen and owned his home free of a mortgage; Louise attended school. Jacob Ockers died in his home in 1918 at age 71. His widow, Louise A. (70) and daughter, Louise E. (31) remained in residence in the family home in 1920; neither woman had an occupation. Both women still shared the Ockers home at 16 Merrick Road and did not work in 1930; the house was valued at $15,000. Some claim that Jacob haunts the house; disembodied voices and shadows have been reported in the house.

Sources

Bonafide, John A. Sedovic, Walter. NRHP Nomination of Jacob Ockers House, Oakdale, N.Y.. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1992.

Connetquot Public Library. Local Baymen: Past and Present, Memory Lane. January 1st 2020. Accessed May 18th 2021. https://www.connetquotlibrary.org/services/local-history/memory-lane/entry25.php.

Long Island Paranormal Investigators. Jacob Ockers House, L.I.P. I. blog. January 1st 2020. Accessed May 18th 2021. http://www.liparanormalinvestigators.com/haunted-places-on-li/suffolk-county/jacob-ockers-house/.

Long Island Traditions. Fishing, Long Island Traditions. January 1st 2021. Accessed May 12th 2021. https://longislandtraditions.org/fishing/.

Town of Islip. Islip History, Community and Services. January 1st 2021. Accessed May 22nd 2021. https://www.islipny.gov/community-and-services/explore-islip/islip-history.

U.S. Census. Household of William Smith [Sr.] in Oakdale district 321, Suffolk Co., N.Y., dwelling 528, family 579. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1880.

U.S. Census. Household of Joshua Benjamin in Oakdale district 321, Suffolk Co., N.Y., dwelling 529, family 580. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1880.

U.S. Census. Household of Jacob Ockers in Islip district 771, Suffolk Co., N.Y., dwelling 29, family 34. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1900.

U.S. Census. Household of Louise A. Ockers in Islip district 126, Suffolk Co., N.Y., dwelling 156, family 169. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1920.

U.S. Census. Household of Louise A. Ockers at 16 Merrick Raod, Islip district 92, Suffolk Co., N.Y., dwelling 16, family 16. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1930.

Whitehouse, Jack. Historic Islip Trail, Historic Islip Trail Brochure. Accessed May 22nd 2021. https://www.islipny.gov/community-and-services/documents/general/151-historic-islip-map/file.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

New York State Cultural Resource Information System (NYS CRIS): https://cris.parks.ny.gov/

NYS CRIS: https://cris.parks.ny.gov/

https://www.loc.gov/item/2013593235/